Products · Pattern or everyday thing
McDonald's self-order kiosks
Raised as a usability problem by 52 people on Hacker News over 12 years (2015–2026), in 41 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
- 1
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Simple coffee order takes about eight taps on slow screensUnreviewed
20152026- Ordering a coffee takes 22 taps and screens respond slowly2023-11-10
- Touchscreen ordering is slow and pushes upselling instead of efficient ordering2020-01-13
- Touch screen lags and the ordering path is hard to follow, so taps seem to do nothing2019-09-12
Upsell screens must be clicked away before orderingUnreviewed
20152026- Upsell screens keep pushing extra items that must be clicked away2024-06-21
- Adding each item takes many far-apart taps, and upsell prompts keep interrupting the order.2024-05-01
- Decline button is off-screen, so people must scroll to skip upsell prompts2021-12-26
Kiosk ordering uses gamified dark patterns pushing pricier itemsUnreviewed
20152026- Kiosk ordering is gamified with dark patterns that push customers toward pricier items2026-08-13
- Hard to convey multi-item orders with different sauces; kiosk forces awkward sequential entry and treats repeated items as mistakes2018-12-14
- Navigating dark patterns to order anything outside a meal deal2018-04-12
Touch taps take seconds to register, prompting repeated tappingUnreviewed
20152026- Often needs two or three taps to register, with noticeable delay2026-04-16
- Touch taps take seconds to register, prompting repeated tapping2022-12-14
- Button presses are delayed or buffered, so taps take a long time to register2022-07-25
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Guest option is de-emphasized, and pressing it froze the kiosk screen2026-10-17
- Clicks don't register, then a delayed second click hits something unrelated that must be undone2026-09-30
- Kiosk ordering is gamified with dark patterns that push customers toward pricier items2026-08-13
- Ordering for a family of five at the drive-thru is a pain2026-05-07
- Often needs two or three taps to register, with noticeable delay2026-04-16
- User interface lags on every scroll and click2025-08-25
- App freezes sometimes on opening because it blocks on a server ping2025-07-12
- Lets users complete an airport order, then automatically cancels it later2025-07-12
- Ordering a meal takes about 15 taps and the kiosks are very slow2025-01-17
- Menu screens switch to animations so customers can't read prices while ordering2025-01-16
- Magic link opens the website instead of the app, blocking sign-in2025-01-08
- Upsell screens keep pushing extra items that must be clicked away2024-06-21
- Kiosk ordering takes far longer than telling a cashier, and is hard for unfamiliar users2024-06-17
- Must answer login prompt twice and click through many separate screens to pay2024-06-17
- Touch screens froze, and upsell and checkout menus made it hard to find the no option2024-05-12
- Adding each item takes many far-apart taps, and upsell prompts keep interrupting the order.2024-05-01
- Kiosk forces extra donation and upsell prompts, wasting time before ordering, instead of a quick combo grid2024-01-28
- Forced login prompts and rewards upsell before completing a simple purchase2023-12-16
- Can't find bags of ice, no search, and kiosk has no cash acceptor2023-12-16
- Kiosks are slow and a UI nightmare, needing a staff member to help2023-11-17
- Ordering at the kiosk was slow, confusing and frustrating to use2023-11-17
- Ordering a coffee takes 22 taps and screens respond slowly2023-11-10
- Kiosks are confusing and painful to use, even for tech-savvy people2023-09-08
- Touch taps take seconds to register, prompting repeated tapping2022-12-14
- No obvious place to order besides kiosk; waiting ~5 minutes at empty counter for staff2022-07-25
- Sluggish UI, plus upsell ads that slow down ordering further2022-07-25
- Button presses are delayed or buffered, so taps take a long time to register2022-07-25
- Menu navigation on the kiosks is unbearable, even for a techie2022-07-25
- Ordering on the kiosk takes a ridiculous amount of time, so the commenter avoids the restaurant2022-07-04
- Menu boards are cluttered with items and prices scattered, hard to read2022-01-03
- Decline button is off-screen, so people must scroll to skip upsell prompts2021-12-26
- Tiny similar-looking images and small text make items hard to find and pick2021-06-07
- Ordering a value meal with a drink takes about ten actions instead of one or two2021-06-06
- Unsubscribe link rejects the user as outside the geographical service area2021-04-14
- Slow hardware and animations, plus many screens to go through to order2020-11-01
- Touchscreen ordering is slow and pushes upselling instead of efficient ordering2020-01-13
- Ordering kiosks are confusing to use, so customers still need cashiers2019-12-05
- Touch screen lags and the ordering path is hard to follow, so taps seem to do nothing2019-09-12
- Simple coffee order takes about eight taps, with slow unresponsive touch and animations on each screen2019-01-14
- Simple orders take dozens of button presses to complete2019-01-14
- Combo button is hidden at the bottom, so customers can't find how to order combos2018-12-14
- Hard to convey multi-item orders with different sauces; kiosk forces awkward sequential entry and treats repeated items as mistakes2018-12-14
- Nested submenus are slow and irritating, and missing items mean digging through them2018-07-12
- Menus hide options and make items hard to find or price2018-07-12
- Kiosk is slow, with animations that delay seeing the options2018-07-12
- Older customers struggle and get stuck; ordering is slower than with cashiers2018-07-12
- Must sort trash among four or five confusing bins with patronizing signs2018-06-26
- Kiosks are slow and cumbersome to use2018-04-12
- Navigating dark patterns to order anything outside a meal deal2018-04-12
- Layout is scattered and animations make ordering much slower2017-11-07